In recent years dog owners have become better educated regarding dangers to a dog's paw, such as snow-melting chemicals on the sidewalk in the winter, lawn chemicals, red ants and pad rashes. In an effort to keep their pets safe, more dog owners have been putting their pet in a “dog boot”. A typical boot consists of fabric stitched into the shape of a paw with a padded sole and a Velcro, zipper or strap closure.
The problems with such conventional products are that they are expensive, dogs don't like to wear them and they can fall off and get lost. The reason such boots fall off is that they don't bend and move with the dog's paw and leg, so that all of the straps and other closures need to remain loose enough to allow the dog's paw to bend. However, such looseness makes it impossible to tighten the closures enough to keep the boots on. When a dog owner loses one such boot, he must buy another set of four boots, which can be expensive.
Additionally, such boots are unfortunately not waterproof, so that they cannot protect the paws against any liquid. Furthermore, they typically approach the problem of creating dog boots by designing human-type shoes to fit canines. Thus, dogs dislike them because they cannot feel the ground through the padded sole, which makes them insecure and less sure-footed.
There are a number of dog boots that are currently known and old in the art. As discussed above, they usually revise human-type shoes to fit canines. Thus, they typically have numerous components such as padded soles and straps, zippers, Velcro or other mechanical closures. Examples of such prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,812, which discloses a dog boot having numerous components including securing straps and buckles, and is moisture-resistant but not waterproof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,828 also discloses an animal boot that has many components, such as liners and a fastening strap.
The animal boot shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,832 B1 similarly has a multi-element design, including fasteners for the flexible sole and a strap, which is non-waterproof. U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,920 B1 discloses another non-waterproof, multi-element design for hunting dogs, which includes a thick rubber sole, zippers and straps. Similar observations apply to the multi-component dog boot disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,657.
Other multi-element configurations include the dog booties with polyacrylamide granules between layers of fabric to keep the paws cool in U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,685; the canine footwear with a rubberized sole of U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. US 2005/0241188 A1 and US 2005/0188925 A1; a dog boot with many surfaces and elements shown in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. US 2005/0092260 A1; a dog boot shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,704 B1 which uses layers of various materials and surface textures and a stabilizer strap; and footwear for hooved animals as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,885.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,744,333 and 4,633,817 both disclose protective footwear for animals that include a complex suspender system that goes over the animal's back, as well as a yarn sock and a deerskin boot. Similarly, the paw coverings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,095 utilizes a harness, and is a device for covering cats' paws to prevent them from damaging furniture with their claws.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2003/0164145 A1 discloses a paw covering comprising a tube-shaped, condom-like sleeve formed of latex. The device rolls up the dog's paw like a condom and fits tightly around the paw. It has the objective of protecting the dog owner's house from getting soiled by dirty dog paws, when the dogs come in from the outside. However, such a device may also pose problems in that the shapes of the paws, the dogs' claws and dew claws may prevent the tube-shaped device from rolling onto the paw. Additionally, even if the device did roll on, it may then easily roll off during use. Also, the device does not have the purpose of protecting the dog's paws.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2004/0133144 A1 shows an animal cast and bandage protector for covering a cast or bandage to keep it dry and clean. However, it essentially functions as a cast/bandage covering rather than as a dog boot. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0042563 A1 discloses an animal paw cover for keeping the paws clean. It is water-resistant and is constructed using heat sealed edges. It is contoured to the shape of a paw, rather than being comfortably loose, and it does not have the purpose of protecting the animals' paws. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0037561 A1 discloses an animal boot utilizing a number of elements including a reinforced toe and a sock or sleeve, that must extend up the dog's leg past the elbow.
Consequently, a device for providing simple, effective, and waterproof protection for the paws of canines, which also slips on and off easily with no closures and remains on, and that dogs do not resist wearing, is highly desired.